'He is the top coach' - Why Paris Saint-Germain moved for Christophe Galtier, and what they're getting
Updated 21/06/2022 at 11:19 GMT
Paris Saint-Germain are set to replace current manager Mauricio Pochettino with OGC Nice boss Christophe Galtier. After another disappointing season with no Champions League trophy, PSG are hoping that the changes behind the scenes will improve their chances of European glory. The new football advisor at PSG, Luis Campos, is believed to be keen to reunite with Galtier after their success at Lille.
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Paris Saint-Germain are set to appoint OGC Nice manager Christophe Galtier as their new coach as Mauricio Pochettino looks set to depart the Ligue 1 champions.
Before announcing the appointment of Galtier, PSG must agree a compensation package with Pochettino who is destined to leave after winning Ligue 1 this season, along with the Coupe de France and Trophée des Champions.
However, once again it seems the failure to win the Champions League after their loss to the now European champions, Real Madrid, in the quarter-final has cost a PSG manager his job.
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Mauricio Pochettino (PSG) and Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)
Image credit: Getty Images
The French capital side have reportedly agreed a fee of €10 million with Nice to take Galtier to Par, as they hope to agree an exit with Pochettino later this week.
Galtier has a fantastic track record in French football, firstly with Saint-Etienne where he took charge in 2009 with the club in relegation trouble. After keeping them up he then guided the club to their first trophy in 32 years in 2013, winning the Coupe de la Ligue.
He moved on to manage Lille in 2017 when they were 18th in the table at the time, eventually rescuing them from relegation. The following season he led them to second in the league and then won their first league title in 10 years ahead of PSG in 2021.
Most recently, Galtier managed to take OGC Nice to fifth in the 2021-2022 season, after they finished 9th in the previous season.
With the help of our colleagues at Eurosport France we look at what makes Galtier so special.
KING OF MANAGEMENT?
It is clear that Galtier is ‘appreciated’ by everyone in the game, especially in France. The one concept he has proven so far in his career is his ability to enhance, progress and improve teams who are underperforming. Arthur Merle outlines the love his players have for him.
Even Galtier himself has revealed that he is not the average coach or manager, he sees himself as unique and different to the rest in terms of the sporting projects that he commits to.
He said: “Going from the champion of France to Nice, I obviously understand that it can be challenging, but I know what I want, I know where I want to go, and I am convinced that it is the right project.
“In Lille, we were in a bad position to finish very high. Maybe I'm that type of coach and not another.”
There are plenty of players from across Europe who have experienced what it is like to work under Galtier and can explain how he translates his ideas onto the pitch.
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LYON, FRANCE - APRIL 25: Coach of Lille OSC Christophe Galtier, Jose Fonte of Lille, Sven Botman of Lille (left) celebrate the victory following the Ligue 1 match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and Lille OSC (LOSC) at Groupama Stadium on April 25, 2021 i
Image credit: Getty Images
Former ASSE forward Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang said: “I had the confidence of Christophe Galtier. There are not many who would have counted on me but he did. That's when people started to get to know me. I revolted. He gave me the strength to revolt and keep scoring goals.”
Galtier attempts to communicate his idea of playing clearly across to every player on the pitch, even the defenders such as Jose Fonte and Dante who worked with him at Lille and OGC Nice.
Fonte explained: “To be honest, what Christophe Galtier is asking a central defender to do in the construction of the game has shaken me up a bit.
“The control he has over his game model... He knows what he wants, when it doesn't work, why it doesn't work, all within a second. It's still quite remarkable”, Dante revealed.
IMPRESSING MOURINHO, ANCELOTTI AND TUCHEL
During his time with Lille especially, the world’s top coaches began to voice their praise for the work that Galtier had done to turn a relegation-threatened side to league champions as Glenn Ceillier explains.
Some of these managers include Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel, who the latter came up against Galtier during his time at PSG from 2018 to 2020 before moving to Chelsea.
Tuchel said whilst in France that Galtier is “very strong in coaching. I have great respect for his team.”
Even after his move to Chelsea, Tuchel was still very complimentary about Galtier’s Lille side as Chelsea played them in the Champions League this season.
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Paris Saint-Germain's German head coach Thomas Tuchel (L) jokes with Lille's French head coach Christophe Galtier before the TV show on May 19, 2019 in Paris, as part of the 28th edition of the UNFP (French National Professional Football players Union) tr
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He said: “They had a very great coach and were very competitive when I was in Paris. It was a very big team. It was very difficult to play there. The quality of the players was exceptional. They won the championship last year but they lost players and the coach.”
Tuchel isn’t the only manager who has lauded the work of Galtier as Jose Mourinho also couldn’t help but recognise his remarkable achievements.
Mourinho revealed: “Maybe the others are better, I don't know. But I think he (Christophe Galtier) is the coach of the year. Taking the team to the Champions League, the quality of football, the development of young players... I think the owners are delighted because they have players to sell and sell well. If they have the ambition to compete with Marseille, Lyon, the usual great L1 teams, he is the top coach.”
The current Champions League winning manager, Carlo Ancelotti, also couldn’t refrain from recognising Galtier’s ability to create an up-turn for under-performing teams during his time at PSG from 2012-2013.
“Today comes to an end for him a fantastic period spent at Saint-Etienne, where his team has always distinguished itself by the quality of its game and its organization. I wish my friend Christophe the greatest success for the future,” Ancelotti said.
GALTIER IN HIS OWN WORDS
Many players and managers have praised Galtier for his work in France over the last decade. However, this hasn’t changed his attitude or mentality as a coach, as he spoke to Martin Mosnier during last season at OGC Nice on his work ethic and methods.
Galtier explained: “I believe that when you do this job, you are in human relations. I've always said: there are players, but also the man behind it. And man needs to be happy, so he needs exchanges. I also say that a dressing room needs justice and transparency.
“When you are as transparent as possible, relationships are as simple as possible. I don't say everything, but I don't lie.”
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Christophe Galtier
Image credit: Getty Images
Despite, all of Galtier’s accolades in the French game he hasn’t let the appraisals take over him which could lend itself to the PSG job, as he will have to achieve what others couldn’t before him.
He said: “I don't have that look at me, and fortunately. The day I think I'm good, very good or that I'm the best, I'll have to stop. Every season, every week, I question myself.
“People are at the centre of everything. And on the game, I'm not a chess player. I am not a dogmatic, I am a pragmatist. I watched Sir Alex Ferguson a lot. I'm convinced that Pep Guardiola is a very great coach but I'm not in there, I'm not a chess player.”
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